Baking Over a Hundred Years- Hinkley Bakery, Jackson, Michigan

Rebbel took a trip on Saturday to check out Michigan's best doughnut place.  Hinkley Bakery located in Jackson Michigan was voted as MLive's best doughnut in the state of Michigan. Hinkley's has been baking since 1913 and that's a very long time and they seemed to have got it right.
 After she arrived, Rebbel stood in line on a cold winter Saturday morning for 20 minutes on the outside, and estimated 20 minutes once inside.   We tried the Walnut Fritter made with Danish margarine, the Blueberry crescent, the glazed doughnuts, the always messy powdered sugar douhnut, and the crescent with chocolate frosting.
My first bite was the walnut fritter.  I found this to be pretty plain tasting and in need of a little help.  I shared one with Wes from work and he was going to save his for a midnight snack. He said he was going to warm it up and put ice cream, cherries and whip cream on it.  I think Wes has the right idea for that doughnut.
I also had my good friend Sheri, that I have worked with for over 20 years, and knows waaay too much about me, try a glazed doughnut.  She though their was a lot of layers of flavor and was comparable to one of our counties best doughnut places Lev's in Tecumseh,Michigan. No big lines yet at Lev's.  I did notice that the doughnuts seemed to have a heavier richer taste, almost like a paczki. The blueberry crescent was excellent, and the powdered sugar doughnut,which left traces all over me and the sofa was sheer perfection. It was crispy on the outside and soft goodness on the inside.

Is this Michigan's best doughnut?? I'm not sure, I still have more to try. It is very good stuff and you have big lines.  Most people would say it is worth it. Hinkley's Bakery  is located at 700 Blackstone St, in Jackson,Mi  They are only open Wednesday through Saturday from 5:15 - 1:00. You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hinkley-Bakery/193238617380223#_=_  . Finally, word to the wise;  if you are going to eat the powdered doughnut you might not want to wear a black hoodie.

The Best Chicago Pizza Jackson, Michigan - Klavon's Pizzeria and Pub

Klavon's Stuffed Chicago Style Pizza

Chicago Style Pizza has been described as being a casserole instead of pizza. A deep dish pie loaded with meat fillings cheese and sauce. Klavon's Pizzeria  and Pub would have to be one of my favorite places to eat this dish outside of the windy city.
Klavon's has a modern, clean look.  They have tablet menus instead of the paper variety. Its a Sports bar, so beware, there are televisions with sports on them everywhere you look.  It's not a quiet place by any means.
Klavons has a menu with Chicken Wings,Sandwiches, Burgers and wraps, but the star of the show is the Chicago Style Stuffed Crust Pizza. To start with, every stuffed pizza has a pound of mozzarella in it. You can choose five toppings to stuff your pizza. We got steak,red onions, black olives sausage and ham.  Those were stuffed between two crusts. On top of the pizza is their pizza sauce. Very good quality pizza. The crust wasn't as good as Lou Minalti's in Chicago, but I don't know of anybody that does have a crust as good as Lou's.
  The pizza is very filling.  You will need a box after a couple of slices and you might have to employ a young strong person to carry the box and maybe yourself to your vehicle. You can choose different cheese if you prefer, and extra fillings are available at a cost.

Bacon Cheddar Burger

We also tried the burger when we were there.  It was picked as one of Jackson's top burgers in MLive's contest.  It was made of Black Angus Beef.  I had the Bacon Cheddar Burger and I found it to be good, and juicy. The brioche bun was o.k., but if I were to order at Klavon's, I would order the Chicago Deep Dish and a strong person on the side!
Klavon's  has two locations. The one we visited is located at 1361 E McDevitt Ave, Jackson Mi.  The other location is at 6010 Clinton Rd in Jackson, Mi.  Find them on the web at..http://klavons.com/index.php

Another Day, Another Coney - Virginia Coney Island, Jackson, Michigan

  Today we are in Jackson, Mi.  We decided to try Virginia Coney Island.  They are located  on Michigan Ave and were voted the best Coney Dog in Jackson by MLive and 5th in Michigan. My wife went inside and she said they are a bit cleaner looking than my favorite coney down the street.  The thing I didn't like about Virginia's was the onions. They were finely chopped which Rebbel really likes, but they had a bitter taste and took away from the coney sauce. I knocked the rest off and the sauce was pretty good because it wasn't too spicy and left a great taste in your mouth.  Alas, the hot dog has no snap.  Both Virginia and Jackson Coney Island are very similar in my view.  Maybe you can grab a dog from both places and hold your taste own contest. Virginia Coney Island is located at 649 E Michigan Ave in Jackson Mi. You can find them on the web at:www.virginiaconey.com

In Search of Coney Perfection - Jackson Coney Island, Jackson,Michigan

Jackson Michigan is the birthplace of many things. After all, it is the birthplace of the Republican party, Tony Dungy, my friend Tim B.,who now resides in Durango ,Co, and Jackson is known as the crossroads of Michigan. After all those things, it seems that Jackson could just sit back and say we did enough, but lo and behold, I have found out that Jackson, Mi. might also be the birthplace of the coney island hot dog! Now according to an article in Wikipedia, some people in the New York area refer to a spicy pork hot dog with kraut as a coney, but I am referring to the dog with meat chili, onion and mustard. Which in some parts of New York is called a hot dog with Michigan Sauce.
There is some discussion if the sauce from Michigan was developed by Todoroff''s in Jackson, or in Flint, or at American Coney Island in Detroit. I have decided, I don't care where it was originally created. I just want the best!
The best I have had so far, is at a place called Jackson Coney Island in Jackson, Michigan. It is located at 615 Michigan Ave. by the Amtrak station. The coney meat tastes great and is hard to duplicate. We have tried. The hot dog looks like a grilled beef dog, not the greatest, possibly a Gordon's Food Service, but not awful. The coney sauce more than makes up for it though. People buy these things by the bagful. We ate some in the truck and the delicious aroma was there the next day. You can start a taste test of your own, there is a Virgina Coney Island on the same block. Drop me a line telling me your favorite coney place at bullwinkle1961@gmail.com .